The More Things Stay The Same
by Patruelis Omnis
Summary: Sequel to The More Things Change. An alternate universe ARC team is stranded in the canon universe. Watch the teams meet their doppelgangers, reach new levels in their relationships, and build friendships, even amid suspicions that they are not who they say they are.


_2011. London, England  
_

* * *

Madge ran though the warehouse, away from the bright light at the far end of the building. She ducked behind a large crate and checked the power level of the EMD. It was nearly dead. She radioed the rest of the team.

"Cutter, I'm out of power. I'm safe, but the creature refuses to go through the anomaly on it's own."

"We're on our way. Where are Matt and Connor?"

"I don't know. We got separated when another one of those things came through."

"Do we know what it is yet?"

"Carnotaurus. Cretaceous era theropod. Juveniles, I think. They're not even two meters tall yet."

"Just stay put. We're nearly there."

A shot rang out across the warehouse, and a roar of pain. Madge couldn't see anything from where she was. It was silent for a few moments, then Madge heard someone running, but she didn't hear if they were getting closer or farther. Then there were more shots.

"Madge!" It was Connor on the radio. Madge was relived he was still alive. She snatched the radio, and turned the volume down so that the carnotaurs didn't hear it.

"Connor! Is Matt with you?" She tried to be as quiet as she could possibly be.

"No, but he's fine. I stunned one of the creatures, he's the one closest to the anomaly. Matt and Cutter are trying to herd the other one back to the anomaly. You need get the locking device working. Fast."

Madge took a deep breath, and tried to swallow back the lump that was forming in her throat. Heart racing, she peaked around the corner to make sure that something else wasn't going to attack her.

When Madge didn't say anything in reply, Connor got anxious. "Madge, are you still there?"

Madge tried to assure him over the radio. "Yeah, Connor. I'll get to the locking mechanism. Just give us two ticks." She took a deep breath, and ran full bore towards the anomaly. She'd only just started working on it, when Matt radioed her.

"It's coming your way, Madge."

"Can't you try and stop it? I haven't fixed the-" She stopped mid-sentence when the light around her dimmed. She turned around, expecting to see two rather large dinosaurs looming over her. But it was worse than that. Panicking, Madge grabbed at her radio. "Guys, we have a problem. The anomaly's getting weaker."

"Get out of there, Madge!" Connor shouted. Madge picked up her EMD and started heading towards one of the outer doors. She tried to open the door, but it was locked, and then the light radiating from the anomaly faded completely.

Madge got on the radio. "Guys, the anomaly's gone."

"We'll take care of them." Helen said. "Just get out of there. There's nothing else you can do."

"I can't. The door won't open!" Madge glanced back at the anomaly site, and there started to be another flicker of energy. Static came over the radio when Helen tried to reply, and the room filled with light again.

"-dn't hear you. Are you out yet?"

Madge headed back to the ALM. "The anomaly's reopened." She said over the radio. "I'm going to try and get the locking device ready."

"No, Madge, get out of there. We'll handle them." Cutter said. "Madge, can you hear us? Get out of there."

Madge got back on the radio, and tried to pretend that the anomaly was causing interference. "I- crrrrsh- n't hea- crrrsshhhh- fix the ALM. The anom- crrrrssshhh- eopened."

"Madge! Are you still there?" Cutter asked. "Madge!"

"I know you can hear me, get out of there." Connor started heading toward the anomaly. "WHat am I saying? You're too stubborn to leave. I'm coming to get you out of there, Madge."

Madge ignored all of them and continued to work on the locking mechanism. She wasn't far from being able to fix it. She heard something coming. She turned to look, and was ready to be surprised that to see that Connor had gotten there so fast. But the creature got there before Connor could.

...

Connor got there, and saw no sign of the Carnotaurus. But he didn't see any sign of Madge, either.

"Madge?" He called. He heard something move behind him, and he turned around. His eyes widened as he realized that it was the other Carnotaurus, who'd recovered from the EMDs.

"Don't. Move." Madge hissed. She had been hiding behind some of the crates next to the ALM, and was still trying to work on it.

Connor snuck a glance in her direction. "Madge, you alright?"

She shushed him. "Be quiet. It might just go back through the anomaly."

Connor stood very still. The Carnotaurus approached Connor and smelled him, trying to appraise the danger. Connor's whole body was shaking. Madge picked up her EMD and got ready to fire her last shot at the Carnotaurus.

"Hey!" Cutter shouted. He picked up a piece of metal and started banging on things to force the Carnotaurus back through the anomaly. Matt appeared and followed suit, shouting and making as much noise as he could.

The Carnotaurus was taken by surprise, and backed off of Connor, and slowly made it's way back into the anomaly. Once it was through, Madge dashed back over to the locking mechanism.

Cutter walked up next to her. "Is it fixed?"

Madge worked fast. "No, but I just need a few more-"

The Carnotaurus reappeared through the anomaly, and let out a earsplitting roar. Matt shot at it. Madge had fired, too, but just a few miliseconds after, and hit the anomaly instead of the creature. The anomaly locked.

They all just stood there, wide-eyed for just a moment. Then they all turned to look at Madge, who looked as surprised as the rest of them.

"Don't look at me." Madge said. "I didn't know the EMDs could do that, either."

* * *

_Author's note_

_After doing NaNoWriMo, and working on nothing except my original work, I thought that I would take a few minutes to work on this fanfic. I still love this story line, I just never had the time to fix it. So I decided to delete, re-edit, and repost. And for those who were wondering how the chacters got to where they are, read the story that take place before this one, named The More Things Change. I don't have am AU background for Matt yet. That will be one of the things covered in the in-between-quel._


End file.
